Group will match up to $500K in Rail Trail donations

During the month of October, a group of seven Rail Trail supporters will be matching donations up to half a million dollars.

This incentive could more than double the number of metres funded to date.

“We were inspired by the excitement created by the summer matching campaign and wanted to do something similar in the fall,” said one of the donors. “We are hoping that this October matching campaign will inspire the donations to complete the second stage of trail construction.

“We want to help get this trail built!”

The second stage of trail construction is estimated to cost $2 million for necessary prep work.

“It will ensure that the rock cliffs along the lakes are safe, that all environmentally sensitive areas are assessed and protected, and that proper permitting is in place for continued work on the trail”, explained Trail Ambassador Dev Fraser. “This work will expedite and lower the costs of the trail construction itself.”

Funds have already been raised to cover stage one, which includes $500,000 for access control and design work.

The Inter-Jurisdictional Development Team, made up of representatives from the City of Kelowna, District of Lake Country, Okanagan Indian Band, and North Okanagan Regional District, will send out Requests For Proposals for this work shortly, and work could begin this winter.

With funding for the second stage of construction raised this fall, work can be scheduled for the spring of 2017.

The seven donors will match all donations received from Oct. 1 to Oct. 31.